American Airlines co-pilot dies of heart attack during flight
     LUBBOCK, Tx. - March 9, 1998 1:24 p.m. -- A co-pilot suffered a
 fatal heart attack on an American Airlines flight carrying more than
 100 people, and the plane made an emergency landing at Lubbock
 International Airport.
     Joe E. Neill, 55, slumped over in his seat at about noon Sunday
 while his plane was at about 31,000 feet on a flight from Dallas-Fort
 Worth to Ontario, Calif., according to American.
     The captain was at the controls of the McDonnell Douglas MD-80,
 the airline said.
     "The captain and flight attendants on board checked him and could
 find no pulse and began administrating CPR," said American spokesman
 Tim Smith.
     The plane was diverted to Lubbock, reaching the gate within six
 minutes after Neill's attack, Smith said.
     "Paramedics were waiting at the gate, but unfortunately they were
 unable to revive him," he said.
     Neill, a pilot for American for 10 years, was pronounced dead at
 a hospital.
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  Airfare turbulence - Fluctuating ticket prices frustrate travelers
     Finding the best airfare deal these days is no easy task -- air-
 fares are a deal one day, and back up at stratospheric levels the
 next.
     On a recent flight from Atlanta to Dallas, an informal survey of
 passengers showed they paid between $170 and $270 -- though one fre-
 quent traveler on the route said he'd paid as much as $918 for a
 round-trip ticket.
     The airlines say they constantly monitor reservation demands and
 adjust prices to meet that demand, sometimes even on an hourly basis.
     But author Lawton Roberts says the fluctuating airfares are
 little more than an enticement -- deals that are there one minute
 and gone the next.
     "The $99 specials and the $199 specials get a lot of attention,"
 says Roberts, who wrote "Unfair at Any Fare." "But there are not as
 many of them as there used to be, and I think they are teasers."
     Enticement of not, travelers say rapidly changing prices make it
 difficult to shop around. But some industry analysts say record
 numbers of people competing for seats justifies different prices.
     "For the business traveler, if they want to have space available
 on that airplane for them to get on there (at the last minute), there
 must be some higher fares which block leisure travelers from taking
 up every seat on the airplane," says George Washington University's
 Darryl Jenkins.
     So how should airfare-shocked travelers find the best deal on
 their flights? Try booking early for advance purchase specials, or
 ask a travel agent to check all airlines for the lowest fares.
     Another option is using reservations services via the Internet.
 One service set to launch this spring, Walker Digital Corporation's
 www.priceline.com, says it has reached deals with major airlines
 that will allow passengers to name their own price for tickets on
 flights departing at less than capacity.
     Whatever method used, diligence pays off in the search for
 lower airfares.
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 All Nippon Airways drops Delta, picks up United and Lufthansa to
 stay aloft
     TOKYO -- All Nippon Airways (ANA) announced Monday strategic
 alliances with two major international carriers as it struggles with
 rising competition and hefty losses expected in the current fiscal
 year.
     ANA and United Airlines said they agreed on a broad marketing
 alliance, including a code-sharing arrangement. Code sharing allows
 carriers to easily market tickets for each other's flights, expand-
 ing the number of flights each airline offers.
     ANA also announced an agreement with Lufthansa that includes
 harmonizing the carriers' frequent-flyer programs and planning for
 the introduction of code share services between Frankfurt and Tokyo
 before the year end.
     Lufthansa and United are key members of the Star Alliance, a
 major grouping of global carriers, and analysts expected ANA's ties
 with the two would be a precursor to full membership.
                           Changing partners
     As it cozied up to United, ANA also prepared to jilt its current
 U.S. partner, Delta Air Lines, with which it has a basic code-shar-
 ing agreement.
     "We had already told Delta before today's announcement that we
 planned to go ahead with the tie-up with United," an ANA spokesman
 said. "We indicated to Delta our intention to terminate (our
 agreement)."
     The move follows close on the heels of last week's announcement
 by ANA rival Japan Airlines of a broad code-sharing agreement with
 American Airlines.
     Major carriers in recent years have been working to form strategic
 global alliances, including broad code-sharing pacts that help air-
 lines cut costs and expand the number of flights they can offer by
 integrating routes.
     Japanese airlines eagerly jumped on board the alliance bandwagon
 after a Japan-U.S. agreement in January freed them to form global
 tie-ups. That agreement is also expected to heat up competition in
 the Asia-Pacific region by boosting the number of carriers and
 flights allowed to ply trans-Pacific routes.
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